Workshop Safety !!!!!

You know I consider myself rather safety conscious, I have a hook right on the inside of the doorway to my shop, on it hangs a respirator and safety glasses next to that is a heavy apron...
The stuff goes on every single time I go in the shop, I don't miss, I don't say "oh this will just take a second"...

Regardless I just spent since Tuesday night dealing with a wood chip in the eye, finally today it feels normal agian...

I was re-sawing wood for scales on the table saw, did about 15 different woods and somewhere in all that cutting a small piece went around my glasses and ended up in my left eye...

I figured it would work it's way out, at least I am not dumb enough to rub it.. BTW want your left eye to tear up??? rub your right one...

I tried water flushes I tried drops no luck....

Wed morning still had it in there, and by the time I finished paper work at the office, my eye was really red, and I was getting stuffed up sinuses...
Now with all the exotics I was cutting including some spalted woods, I figured I better get to the doctor before I ended up with an infection...

Sure enough the little bugger had lodged on the edge of my cornea and they had to get it out, not too bad, once they gave me some stinging drops to numb my eye...

Needless to say you can never be to careful and I now have actual goggles, since the safety glasses let me down !!!!
BTW I had good safety glasses, I bought those wrap around DeWalt ones....

Stay Safe !!!!

Glad to hear you let the pros take care of it and that it's back to feeling normal.

Stay safe in there!

Good advice Glen. Safety first above and beyond all else.

Even with the goggles, you run a risk. There is always a risk.
If you spend enough time doing something you'll eventually encounter all the dangers asociated with it.

I have a similar shelf and hook, as should everyone with tools effective enough to kill you. I also have a mandatory minute of reflection before getting to work to get me focussed and in the right frame of mind.

I also have been hurt. It comes with the territory, but should never be invited.

I pretty much say the same in many of my posts when it's about power tools. Safety first.

We should made a sticky note of the dangers involved, what precautions to take and what gear to wear to at least be safe to a certain degree.

The G-Man actually jinxed me, cause when we talked a few days ago he told me what had happened. The next day while I was buffing on my wheels the tinniest compound particle ejected against my safety glasses and made it's way underneath the glasses into my eye.

It just got sucked in. I'm sure Gugi will be able to give a more scientific reason to why :D but it did surprise me. A combination of pressure and the air flow of the buffing wheel against my glasses I presume.

It just stung, and I consider myself lucky, but it shows that even by wearing some kind of safety gear the unexpected can always happen.

Dan, the G and many other of the pros know exactly what they are talking about. Even Alex cut his thumb up really bad a long time ago and it wasn't a pretty sight either. It can happen to the best off us so who says it won't happen to you.

One word of advise. Don't get over confident and think you're invincible. You're not. Never let your guard down and get to comfortable either when working with power tools.

Good to hear you're ok and on the road back to normal.

+1 on that (both Glen and Max). I had almost the same thing happen to me yesterday while working on a brush... tiny piece got around the safety glasses and right in the eye... didn't rub, but it was really hard to wash out. Also, just got my full respirator today!

Safety First... absolutely

Thanks to ChrisL I picked up my Kevlar sleeves today. I plan on using them. Flying blades are kinda scary.

It isn't just about power tools. One of the scariest things for me is still using a clean cloth to hand buff a blade at any stage. It's how I got my thumb that once I believe and I always pay double attention when doing that now. Glad your eye turned out alright Glen. Good thread.

I put on my glasses, respirator and apron when I hit the shop but, things happen. I was at the indoor range one day doing a little target practice with the 22 autoloader. Had a casing bounce off the divider and find its way through a tiny little opening on my glasses. Well the gun went to the bench and those glasses came off fast but that hot little bugger was already singed and stuck to my cheek. Sometimes, regardless of the steps taken, accidents happen.

FYI, after an extended wood working session, especially if I was turning a bunch of stuff, I hit the shower to get the dust out of my hair and off the skin. It helps minimize the reactions.

This actually has turned into a good thread with all the safety hints coming from many of the old dogs on the forum,,,

Keep them coming guys....

Thanks for all the sympathy too :D I sure ain't getting any of that at home... she mumbled something sounded like stupid as... and shook her head...

My personal danger zone is the Buffer.....

I take like Dan said, a moments pause before I start on a blade... I think about exactly how I am going to work that blade on that spinning pad before I EVER, touch steel to wheel...
For those of you using a Dremel the same principle applies, as that little thing will destroy more blades faster then you would ever think possible and flings high speed steel when it does....

I got a scary reminder a few weeks ago. How many of you when you work on your car wear safety glasses? really? most people don't, most mechanics I know don't. Well I usually at least wear my glasses, but wasn't this one day. was doing a brake job on my wifes car, at my friends place because he has a lift. was using a punch to knock a race out, and a piece came flying off (not surprising, a lot of his tools are junk). hit me in the chest hard enough that it went through my t-shirt and left a good welt. would have taken my eye out. next time eye protection for auto work too.

I am pretty careful at the shop. if you guys don't have one I recommend a full mask, they're cheap and give great visibility. my only complaint is they aren't great for small spaces and on cold days fog up on me. but if you're wearing a respirator under there might not happen.

Glen that reminds me of the times you're shooting and somebody to the left sends hot brass your way (some guys guns throw brass all over the damn place and they apparently have no concern about it, last time I shot a guy was shooting a 40 and filling my stall with spent cases) and it lands in the collar of your shirt.

Red

Glad to hear you are okay Glen!

I had an incident in Art College with a dremel.

I was using a dremel channel saw blade. A small blade about 1/4" diameter with teeth that is about 1/8" thick.

I was cutting through some wood to make a channel. It hit a knot and bucked on me. The wood went flying and the dremel dug into my pants and locked up and bucked out of my hand, twisting my wrist in the process.

The dremel hit the floor and luckily did not break. I put that away for a while while I sussed the damage to wood and person alike.

No real damage either way.

On the other hand. A fellow student put his board and stuff away in his locker and absent mindedly, sleep deprevation, put his D handle exacto on top of his board. He opens the locker and yanks the board out the next day. Exacto becomes a projectile and in defense he puts his hand up while falling backwards. The exacto ends up lodged in his palm as he tripped and fell backward cracking his head on a drafting table knocking himself out. He refused medical treatment from the paramedics citing the need to get his project done.

We had another student using a Jesus board and an exacto. She was holding something down hand spread and hit a knot in the board. The knife jumped the straightedge and went across the webbing of her hand between the thumb and index finger. She fainted, the lass next to her passed out and blood pooled everywhere. She did not return that day. 17 stitches in case you were wondering.

The stories are to act as a reminder but the advice is golden.
A few things I would like to add:
*hearing protection while using power tools
*any rags used for stains and finishes should be put in a metal container with lid to prevent spontaneous combustion
*like our razors, keep your cutting tools sharp. Less effort means more control
*PATIENCE!!!!!!!!!!

Great thread. Glad your O.K. Glen and a very good call especialy with the exotics being used. Newbies - check the Wiki for wood toxicity if you not sure.

Kilowattkid

P.S. Dave (cannonfodder) I had a misdirected .45 casing find it's way between the Mrs. hills and valley once. Good thing her .38 wasn't loaded at that point or I might have been a statistic. :confused: She didn't seem to agree with me that it was her fault for wearing "low cut" clothing. :w

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kilowattkid

She didn't seem to agree with me that it was her fault for wearing "low cut" clothing. :w

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LoL, now that made me laugh. :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kilowattkid

Kilowattkid

P.S. Dave (cannonfodder) I had a misdirected .45 casing find it's way between the Mrs. hills and valley once. Good thing her .38 wasn't loaded at that point or I might have been a statistic. :confused: She didn't seem to agree with me that it was her fault for wearing "low cut" clothing. :w

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Just tell her she has nice brass.

:roflmao

As has been mentioned, it's not only powered tools that are dangerous. I used to wear my safety glasses most of the time that I was in my workshop. However, on one occasion I had an accident while tramming my mini-mill. The power was off and I had no intention of cutting anything, so I didn't bother to put on the glasses. I use a piece of plate glass for a smooth flat surface on the mill table, and mount a dial indicator in the collet. All you need to do is sweep the dial indicator in a circle and try to adjust things so it reads the same height all around. Well, the dial indicator slipped off the edge of the glass and hit it on the way down. The glass shattered and a piece flew up into my eye. Fortunately, I was able to flush the glass out without any serious injury. Now I wear my safety glasses EVERYTIME I go in my workshop (and usually a hat and apron too).

This isn't straight razor related but I feel that it is relevant to the topic.
I lost part of my pinkie while repairing a bread molding machine. I heard an odd sound in the the rollers that degas and flatten the dough before rolling it into a loaf shape, so I removed the cover and jumped the safety switch so that I could operate the machine and observe what was going on. I had my left hand lifted at about the height of the steel rollers when someone to the left of me called out my name to say hello. I turned to look, and as I turned, my hand moved forward and into the 2 steel rollers, which were moving at this time. As soon as I realized that my hand and arm were next I quickly ripped back my hand. I quickly grabbed my pinkie with my other hand and went to the sink to rinse the wound out only to discover that I had no skin left above the upper most knuckle. Only bone and a finger nail.
the doctor gave me the option of skin grafts but explained that these are usually troublesome throughout a persons life time. I opted to have it chopped off!
Every night for at least a week, I would wake up screaming from the pain. Let me tell you, it wasn't fun! I lost concentration for a second and as a reward for my loss of concentration I get to save some time yearly in fingernail clipping. My oldest boy wouldn't even look at my hand for a full year.
My point is simple, safety glasses will help, gloves will help heavy aprons will help, but nothing can replace the awareness necessary for the protection of ones self! Even with all the safety attire a split second of inattention can cause serious damage if it doesn't kill you!

When I find the picture I will post it!

Here you go:

This is not from a any tools. Caught my hand on the corner of a bench moving some stuff around. Took a nice long chunk of skin out.
Attachment 23517



/btw, Markavery wins the thread.